Email this article to a friend

Duncan calls for 'reality check' on DHS headquarters project

A new report about the ongoing delays in construction of the Homeland Security
Department's new headquarters has prompted one lawmaker to question whether it
still makes sense to build the facility at the St. Elizabeths campus in Southwest
D.C.

Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight and
Management Efficiency, last week released a majority staff report with the title
"Reality Check Needed: Rising Costs and Delays in Construction of New DHS
Headquarters at St. Elizabeths."

"With our nation $17 trillion in debt, we cannot afford waste and frivolous
spending," Duncan said, in a statement. "The [Committee on Homeland Security] Oversight and Management
Efficiency Subcommittee that I chair is responsible for overseeing DHS to help
ensure efficient and effective operations. While touring the St. Elizabeths site
in March 2013, I was struck by how taxpayer dollars had been spent thus far. Most
Americans would be surprised to see the dilapidated historic buildings that are
now undergoing extensive renovation for DHS's headquarters."

The report calls into question the planning process that went into choosing St.
Elizabeths and whether economic conditions have changed so much since the project
began that St. Elizabeths is no long the best option for DHS.

The DHS National Capital Region Housing Master Plan in October 2006 changed the
Coast Guard headquarters project into a consolidated headquarters project for DHS.
The General Services Administration scheduled construction to begin in fiscal year
2007. The Coast Guard was expected to move into its new headquarters at the end of
FY 2010 through the start of FY 2011. The construction of DHS' consolidated
headquarters would be finished at the end of FY 2014, with final occupancy wrapped
up by FY 2015.

The economic downturn that began in 2007 had a negative fiscal impact on funding
for St. Elizabeths construction. According to the report, both GSA and DHS
received less than their original appropriations requests. This forced the
agencies to adjust the project costs and completion dates.

"When it was originally proposed and approved, the St. Elizabeths project had a
price tag of $3.45 billion; however, in the Department's most recent update on the
project, DHS and GSA submitted cost projections of $4.5 billion with a completion
date of 2026," the report says. "DHS contends that cost savings could have been
maximized by using the original approach of coordinating construction efforts
across the St. Elizabeths campus, but the current fiscal environment has not
allowed for this. In 2012, Obama Administration officials indicated that the
coordinated construction plan was no longer feasible, and chose to implement a segmented construction
plan."

Most of the project funding to date came in FY 2009 with supplemental funds from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This funding combined with DHS and
GSA's regular appropriated funding provided $1.1 billion, which was applied to
phase one of the project — construction on Coast Guard headquarters. Since
FY 2009, though, appropriations for the two agencies has been less than the
administration's request for the St. Elizabeth project.

"Knowing that the fiscal climate is substantially different now than it was at the
project's beginning in 2006, it is worth questioning whether the consolidation
project should continue at its current pace or be restructured," the staff report
says. "In September 2013, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) reported that
DHS did not have a process to systematically prioritize its major investments to
ensure that the Department's acquisition portfolio was consistent with anticipated
resource constraints. The GAO added that this approach hinders efforts to achieve
a balanced mix of programs that are affordable and feasible and that provide the
greatest return on investment."

DHS' current headquarters occupies 7 million square feet of office space spread
out
over 53 locations within the National Capital area. Most of the department's
leases are due to run out in 2016, 10 years short of St. Elizabeths' new
completion date.

"Currently, DHS is signing short term leases on its office spaces throughout the
National Capital Region," the staff report says, referencing a Congressional
Research Service study. "As DHS's leases have matured, the Department added short
term extensions into the leases so that they can move to new facilities like St.
Elizabeths or to a different consolidated leased office space. However, short term
leases are much more expensive than longer term leases."

The Coast Guard finished moving into its new facility at St. Elizabeths in
November 2013.

DHS considered many factors when deciding where its new headquarters would be
located, including whether there was sufficient available space for offices and
parking, proximity to the White House and Congress, accessibility to public
transportation and major roadways and amenities nearby for personnel to walk to.